Prize(s) Honorable Mentions
Company Tillotson Design Associates
Lead Designers Suzan Tillotson, Dagmara Nowak
Other Designer's names Ellen Sears (Formerly with TDA)
Architecture Company Beyer Blinder Belle
Client Maryland Department of General Services
Photo Credits Joseph Romeo Photography
Completion Date September 2019
Project Location Baltimore, MD
Entry DescriptionThe library opened in 1933 after undergoing program changes from its original 1882 iteration. Over time, many fixtures were replaced by new, more efficient fluorescent lighting. In 2001 this renovation began with the intention of restoring its splendor, paying homage to the original Beaux Arts era craftsmanship while modernizing the technology and complying with current energy codes. It was decided to restore the existing historic fixtures and add modern fixtures to balance light levels and improve the ambiance over all previous renovations. Many of the original fixtures were lost and had to be newly designed using historic photos as inspiration. The challenge lay in restoring the historic fixtures with LED technology while carefully introducing minimal, standard LED fixtures and a new control system. In the 3-story Central Hall, the historic fixtures were restored with LEDs and a layer of indirect LED uplights within the chandeliers were used to highlight ceilings and provide supplemental light to achieve the required foot-candles. This strategy of direct and indirect layers of light was employed throughout all the renovated fixtures, differing only in quantity and placement.
